


Don’t Dance

by unicornsandbutane



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 03:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14761841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unicornsandbutane/pseuds/unicornsandbutane
Summary: Hux complains to Kylo that no matter how many times he comes out to his parents, they refuse to see it as anything more than teenage silliness.   Kylo suggests that Hux take him as a date to a family function. That they pretend for a night.





	Don’t Dance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kylostahp (hawkeward)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkeward/gifts).



Bad idea, big mistake. Kylo did not know how to waltz, or how he was supposed to sit when in a group, or how many steps there were in a foxtrot. These appeared to be things Hux knew, presumably things he’d learned in the years of dance and etiquette courses his parents had forced him into, all in direct preparation for exactly this sort of occasion: a debutante ball in honor of some relation of his, who was now promenading down the center of the room with a blandly handsome boy in a JROTC uniform. Kylo hadn’t thought people still did debutante balls. He’d thought Hux had been joking when he’d told Kylo he was expected to find a date for an upcoming one, griping that his parents seemed to flatly ignore it every time he told them he was gay, like, really, really assuredly gay, and wouldn’t be taking any of the girls that he’d met at Cotillion when he was /in bleeding middle school/ to the country club or indeed anywhere else. Kylo wondered how Hux did it, coming out to his parents over and over. Was it commonplace to him now? Did he walk in the door, take off his shoes and say “hi I’m home and still gay”? Probably not. Kylo didn’t think even Hux’s defenses were that good. He also didn’t think Hux was totally serious about the debutante ball thing. Like he thought Hux was calling it that in derision. He thought it was going to be more like a ‘super sweet sixteen’ if anything. It was not. 

They were seated together at an otherwise empty table draped in white cloth, staring at a centerpiece of a square white dish filled with a mound of white roses. There were white balloons in an arch over the doorway, and topiaries that might be plastic but probably weren’t in white pots on either side of a small stage. Hux said all this white probably had something to do with antiquated ideas of virginity, which was a laugh if half the stories he’d heard about his cousin Emmaline were true. Kylo hadn’t had anything to say about that. He’d never met Hux’s cousin Emmaline before today, and while she was dancing very close with her uniformed beau, it wasn’t the ass-rubbing sort of dance Kylo was familiar with from school functions. Hux had quite a lot to say though. He commented on everyone’s badly-fitted suits, the inappropriate lengths of dresses, the quality of the food, and the fact that his mother said, “How nice of you to invite your friend,” after he’d specifically introduced Kylo as his date. 

Well. He was Hux’s friend. And this was really a fake date. Hux had been complaining as he leaned against the locker next to Kylo’s, waiting for the bell to ring, saying that nothing seemed to get through to his parents, that they just ignored any insistence that he really was gay as hell and it wasn’t a phase, and he wasn’t just making it up for attention. He’d said something like, “They think I should keep it to myself. I’d have to really shock them, in front of people, before they believed me.” 

“You could get caught sucking dick under the bleachers like Kelly Dewalt last semester,” Kylo had offered, crudely. He regretted it immediately, imagining himself there with Hux, under the bleachers, Hux on his knees among the cigarette butts and food wrappers. He ducked his head into his locker so Hux wouldn’t see it if he was blushing. 

“Har har,” Hux shot back. “Father asked me last night if I’ve decided who I’m taking to my cousin Emmaline’s debutante ball. Like I’m awash in female attention and need to select the best candidate for the occasion. I don’t know what more I can do, Kylo, if I’m honest.”

“What did you say?” Kylo checked his watch. The bell would ring in three minutes and he’d have to dash up the stairs, but he didn’t want to be anywhere else. 

“I asked if he wanted me to fix his printer or not.” 

Hux sighed and let his head roll back against the metal. His eyes fell closed, allowing Kylo to observe Hux’s profile at his leisure. Red as his hair was, he might be expected to have freckles, but his skin was pale and unblemished, and his lips were slack, and Kylo’s heart thumped, thinking about what would happen if he leaned forward just a little, and kissed Hux right here, in the middle of the hallway. It wouldn’t work out. Hux was the only friend he had. 

“What if you took a guy?” Kylo asked, and Hux cracked an eye open at him. 

“To my cousin’s thing? Who on earth would I take? I barely talk to anyone besides you, and I don’t want to get my teeth knocked out just for asking.” 

Kylo’s heart hadn’t stopped going double time. “I wouldn’t knock your teeth out,” he said. It sounded like a bare-faced confession to him, but Hux snorted. 

“You want to pretend to be my boyfriend to freak out my family at my cousin Emmaline’s debutante ball?”

Kylo shrugged. His hands felt cold. 

“Well, it’ll probably be super boring,” Hux said, “and I can’t guarantee the food’ll be any good. You seriously want to go?”

“It might convince your parents you’re not fucking around,” Kylo said, though he felt light headed. 

“Well. Alright,” Hux said. “It’s going to be at the country club. Wear a suit.” As if on cue, the bell rang, and Hux pushed off of the wall. “See you after Trig.” 

Kylo nodded, staring after him for a moment. He was late to AP World History. 

Hux hadn’t commented on his suit when he’d arrived to pick Kylo up that weekend. Kylo’s mother had been extremely interested to know what he was doing getting his suit out of the dry cleaning bag in her closet, asking her where his dark red tie was. His white shirt had a spaghetti sauce stain on the collar, so he’d gone with a black collared shirt, and hoped that he looked stylish in an all-black suit with a black shirt and red tie, instead of a complete fashion disaster. Hux liked to call people who were trying too hard ‘fashion victims’, and Kylo didn’t want to be added to their ranks. He also didn’t want to tell his mom where he was going, but when Hux turned up at the house she lifted her chin and her eyebrows like she knew absolutely everything and it was really not at all helpful to the effort he was putting into not losing his shit completely. He closed the door behind himself before she could say anything, and stood on the front porch for a moment to see if Hux had any criticisms (or compliments), but Hux only crossed the lawn back to his car. 

He looked incredible. He was also wearing a black shirt, with a sort of brass colored vest and white tie over black slacks that fit his thighs and ass just so. The vest had a very minimal pattern of tiny black chevrons, and Kylo wondered if it was textured, what it would feel like under his hand if he asked Hux to dance, or if he ran his palm up Hux’s chest. Hux opened one of the back doors and bent over, putting his ass on more prominent display, and making Kylo’s mouth go dry.

“If you want to hang up your jacket until we get there, I have a hanger,” he said, and Kylo could see Hux’s jacket was already hanging up in the back. 

“Sure,” Kylo answered thickly. He shucked his suit jacket and let Hux hang it behind the passenger seat, then climbed in. He was sure he could keep his hands to himself, because he did it every day at school. Even if Hux looked really good. He’d done something different to his hair. Hux started the car, and told Kylo to pick some music from his Spotify. It was all so ordinary, it didn’t feel as though they were on their way to some kind of fancy party where Hux would come out again, this time in front of presumably his whole family, with possibly disastrous consequences. 

When they arrived, and Hux led him under the balloon arch, Kylo wondered if he was supposed to act differently than he usually did. Hux grabbed his hand and led him over to his parents. This could be bad. Hux’s parents could call Kylo’s and tell them he was corrupting their son and forbid Hux from ever speaking to Kylo again. Hux probably wouldn’t cut ties but it would make hanging out after school more difficult. Hux’s parents were home a lot less than Kylo’s, and Kylo had all of these weird fantasies about finally kissing Hux sometime, up in his room when his parents weren’t home. That would go right out the window if they said he wasn’t allowed at their house anymore. He’d probably still go over there but it would be an extra hassle.

Hux’s father looked at him and raised his eyebrows. Hux’s mother controlled her face a bit better. 

“You’ve already met, but I’d like to introduce my date,” Hux said. His mother blinked for just an instant and then smoothed it over with a genteel smile. 

“Very nice of you to invite your friend. How are you, Ben? Tell your mother hello,” she said easily, tucking a lock of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. 

“You ought to save a dance for your cousin,” Hux’s father said. “This being her party and all.” His eyes slid across his son to Kylo, and down to their linked hands. The implication was clear: don’t make a scene. 

“I’ll see if she has time for me,” Hux replied. His expression was almost a mirror of his mother’s: a mask of measured politeness. It all fell apart when they found a table out of earshot. There was a bowl of almonds coated in an edible silver patina, and Hux began crunching on them with a single-minded ferocity. Kylo wasn’t hungry. He felt certain that Hux’s parents read the situation exactly right: this date was a ruse, but Kylo’s feelings were plainly apparent. Hux hadn’t been nervous enough. It hadn’t bothered him one bit to introduce Kylo as his date. If Hux had any feelings for Kylo at all, it would have shown then, but it was clear he didn’t, and now Hux’s parents knew it, too. He glowered at the flower arrangement. 

“Oh, what’s got you in a snit?” Hux asked waspishly, finally deigning to take note of Kylo’s silence. “It’s not your stupid cousin doing the worst waltz I’ve seen since middle school with her stupid meathead boyfriend who would almost definitely beat me up behind this stupid country club if you weren’t sitting here being visibly bigger than him. This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have come.”

That’s when he started going on about the difference between a cocktail dress, a tea-length dress, and an evening gown, and noting whose buttons were pulling or whose jackets were hanging off of them. Kylo watched other teenagers go through the motions of these awkward dances. He wondered if even one person was having a good time. He knew he wasn’t, and heartily believed Hux wasn’t either, though he’d built up a good head of steam behind his rant, and Kylo knew Hux enjoyed a good whinge more than the average person. This was different. Something personal had wiggled its way under Hux’s armor. Something sharp had gotten into his clamshell, and it would be a long time before he turned it into a pearl. 

“Let’s go outside,” Kylo said suddenly, cutting Hux off in the middle of a tirade about the wrong kind of shoes. 

“What, and look at a golf course in the dark?” Hux asked.

“Yes,” Kylo answered forcefully. He was already getting to his feet. Hux followed him, confusion evident in his face. They stepped out into the cool night air, and there was a little patio there, with wrought iron furniture. The umbrellas were closed and there were no decorations, but some outdoor lights affixed to the building kept it from being pitch black. Moths bumped around, casting tiny shadows on the pavement. Hux pulled out a chair with a loud scrape, and Kylo hesitated a moment before doing the same. 

“I know why your parents didn’t believe you this time,” he said. 

“They never believe me, Kylo,” Hux said. “I was fourteen years old the first time I told them, and my mother said I’d just make life difficult for myself if I went on believing that.” 

“I know. You told me. But what I mean is. You’ve never introduced them to a boyfriend in the four years since then. I don’t think you were believably anxious about introducing me that way.”

“But they already know you. Introducing you at all was stupid. I should have just asked you for a dance and let them draw conclusions. Do you know how to dance? I only know how to lead.” 

“I don’t. But listen to what I’m saying,” he was getting frustrated, and he had to get this out before that turned to angry. “You didn’t convince them because you couldn’t even convince yourself.”

“This was your idea anyway,” Hux shot back, “and now you’re criticizing my acting? You didn’t even say anything.” 

“I didn’t need to,” Kylo mumbled, and Hux’s face pinched. 

“What does that even mean?” he asked, slumping down in his patio chair. 

“It means, they’re not as stupid as you think. They saw right through me, and right through you. They knew you were faking it.”

“So? It’s a bust, but at least now they know the lengths I’d go to to try and prove it.” Hux crossed his arms over his chest. The light reflected off of his hair in a peculiar way that gave him a white halo. 

“‘The lengths you’d go to’,” Kylo repeated. “Fuck you, Hux. Like even pretending to date me is such a trial.” He stared down at his own hands, wondering if there was a bus stop near here that would take him home. 

“Don’t be like that, Jesus. You don’t have to take it so personally.” Hux glared at him, and Kylo glared back. 

“Yes I do,” Kylo said. “Honestly, you think your parents are idiots but they saw in a fraction of a second what you haven’t noticed in three years!”

“What?” Hux snapped, “What are you even talking about?”

“Hux, for fuck’s sake, I wanted you to invite me as your date because I fucking, I want...” He couldn’t articulate it, even. “Because I might be a little in love with you,” he said, staring at the floor. He watched the shadows of moths circle, listened to crickets hiding in the shrubs. Hux was quiet. 

“In love with me?” Hux asked, perplexed. “But you never said anything. After I came out and everything, you could’ve said. You never even said you were gay.”

“I have my reasons,” Kylo replied. He felt wounded in ways he couldn’t explain, and pressed his lips together, trying to master himself. 

“But, Kylo, all this time... that’s, that’s not really fair to me, is it? How was I supposed to know you liked me, if I thought you were straight? I hadn’t even considered the notion.”

“I’m not worth considering?” Kylo felt entitled to sulking, and settled in to do so. 

“I don’t want to get crushes on straight men, Kylo,” Hux explained. “That’s just... setting myself up for a bad time. But. Kylo. Do you want to try something?” He scooted to the edge of his chair, so his knees touched Kylo’s. Kylo looked up, met his eyes. “Do you want to kiss me?” Hux asked, and Kylo’s heart clenched almost painfully. 

“More than anything,” Kylo admitted. He stopped himself just short of telling Hux just how often he thought about it.

“Do you want to do it now?” He rested his hands above Kylo’s knees, and Kylo leaned forward, kept going until his lips brushed Hux’s. Hux pressed into it, then, gripping Kylo’s thighs hard like he needed that for an anchor point. Kylo needed it too, needed Hux’s fingers digging into the fabric of his dress pants, as he had no idea what to do with his own hands and ended up cupping Hux’s chin. He’d seen that in movies. Perhaps it was even romantic. His heart burned for however long their lips were sealed together. He thought he might do something crazy or stupid like pulling Hux into his lap on this ugly iron chair outside a room filled with Hux’s whole family. 

Hux broke away, but stayed close, their noses touching at the tip. Kylo opened his eyes, and a moment later, Hux did, too, and then he choked out a dumb laugh and Kylo answered him. They were giggling like idiots, with their foreheads pressed together, Kylo’s thumbs stroking Hux’s jaw as Hux rubbed up and down Kylo’s thighs, until they heard a soft “oh,” behind them and whipped their heads around. 

Hux’s mother stood there under the light, an unlit cigarette between her lips, lighter clutched in her hand. Backlit, her face was in shadow and it was impossible to read her expression. Kylo squinted, and felt like he was in a spotlight.

“I see,” she said, and then she flicked her lighter a few times before it struck, and she could finally light her long cigarette. Menthol, Kylo knew. “You know, you boys are going to have a hard time, being out in the world like that.” She crossed her free arm over herself, braced the one with the cigarette. It was oddly defensive, and Kylo realized how very similar Hux and his mother were. 

“I know,” Hux said. Kylo thought he might say something about how much harder it would be to live a lie, but he didn’t. His mother blew a cloud of smoke over her head. 

“I’ll have to tell your father that your choice to bring Ben tonight wasn’t some kind of ploy. He’ll owe me a dinner at the Jasmine Dragon.” 

Hux nodded, deciding, Kylo supposed, that if his mother wanted expensive sushi he wouldn’t begrudge her that. It hit him belatedly that it rather implied Hux wanted to continue this arrangement. He’d have to clarify that later, when his pulse wasn’t hammering in his ears. 

“Anyway,” she went on, ashing a safe distance away from her dress, “you still should go and make your appearances with your cousin. She always looked up to you.” She’d finished her cigarette in three drags, like a professional.

Hux snorted. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” he said. His hand found Kylo’s , and just like that, one of the strangest, most wonderful experiences Kylo had ever had got folded right up inside of an ordinary day. He watched Hux’s mother stub out her cigarette against the wall, and head back inside. Hux watched her too, but didn’t stand yet. He ran his thumb over Kylo’s knuckles, and listened to the muffled sounds of music drifting on the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to kylostahp, hope you enjoyed this little thing.


End file.
